Dorset Police backs pledge to attend all home burglaries

Dwelling burglary offences in Dorset are currently at an all-time low with a decrease of 10.2 per cent in 2021/2022 compared to figures in 2019/2020.

However, the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) recently announced its commitment to attend all home burglaries in England and Wales to ensure more of the crimes are solved and offenders prosecuted.

Dorset Police has welcomed the NPCC’s announcement, saying it recognises “how deeply traumatic burglary can be” and that it already has a policy in place where an officer will attend an incident where your house is broken in to.

Assistant Chief Constable Rachel Farrell said: “I understand how upsetting is to have your home burgled and how distressing that is for victims. Our intent is to always attend home burglaries and where there any possible forensic opportunities, we will automatically arrange a visit from a crime scene investigator.

Assistant Chief Constable of Dorset Police, Rachel Farrell (Image: Dorset Police)

“We have relatively low levels of home burglaries in Dorset, however, given the rise in the cost of living we know that austerity can be a driver for rises in acquisitive crimes and we fully recognise the significant impact that these offences can have on our communities. We remain committed to working with our officers, partners and other agencies to improve standards and create a safer county for everyone.

“We are determined to put victims first and bring offenders to justice but as the NPCC has said today, a large proportion of calls to us are not about crime and the police frequently step into health and social work because of an absence of other services.

“We want to focus on our priorities to be tough on crime and always put victims first and it is clear that the public want that too.”

For other burglary types, such as from sheds and detached garages, a decision about whether to attend an incident is based on the threat and risk present, the vulnerability of the victim and the opportunity to catch offenders.

In Dorset, local neighbourhood teams work alongside intelligence colleagues to identify opportunities to prevent and deter people from committing offences.